The 5 Friends You Need in Your Social Circle
As life moves forward and we all strive for simplicity and satisfaction with the day-to-day, I think it’s natural (and necessary) that we also start considering who we spend our time with, and who brings out the best, happiest version of ourselves.
The other day I was thinking about the most meaningful friends or family members in my life, and I realize that they each fit into one of 5 pretty distinct categories (I also later realized that you could probably fit each of the 5 characters from Friends into each of these categories, but that’s not really the point..).
I’ve come to the conclusion that to have a happy, simple, feel-good, fulfilling social circle, these are the 5 friends you need to have:
- The Lifelong Friend. This is the loyal friend you may have met in college. This person will give you the shirt off their back, make visits whenever they can, be there for you in a jam, and never make anything of it. Maybe it’s selfish to want this kind of friend, but there’s something very comforting about knowing that this person will always be in your life.
- The Friend That Feels Like Family. This person is someone who may not have started out with best friend status, but you’ve been through a lot together, you still live surprisingly close, and you realize that a decade has gone by and they’ve been a solid pal. Maybe you don’t have everything in common, but you were roommates at some point, helped each other through breakups, and you can still text each other to run errands at a moment’s notice.
- The Friend That Makes You Grow. This person is always coming to you with new ideas that bring out a part of your personality you might need to explore more often. You engage in intelligent conversation for hours and feel inspired as you head back home. This friend may be the artist or entrepreneur in your life that isn’t necessarily your best friend, but the feats, work ethic, and interests they have that line up with a certain part of your personality (that many of your friends might not understand) makes this relationship one that’s filled with growth and common goals.
- The Friend You Can’t Stop Laughing With. This is the person you completely let your guard down around. This person doesn’t like you because you’re smart or ‘important’ by society’s standards, and they might even make fun of you when you act too ‘serious.’ You talk about inane things together, watch really lame/embarrassing TV shows and movies together, and have way too many inside jokes that lead to laughing uncontrollably over cartons of ice cream.
- The Colleague Friend. Everyone needs a good work buddy. This person might be the same time of worker you are, they’re lighthearted, have some similar interests, you can easily trade tips and suggestions for those projects you’re working on, and they’re totally normal (unlike some of your other colleagues) so you have a tendency to hang out after work and talk about life in general. You absolutely need this person to round out your solid social circle.
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With the holidays upon us, and as we buy gifts and spend time with the ones we love, be sure to cherish these 5 special types of friends in your life. After all, life is short and time is precious, so surround yourself with those that make you smile and fill your heart with happiness and love.
Happy living!